Rio airport welcomes over 85 thousand travelers

The Tom Jobim International Airport is expected to register the largest number of passengers in its history Monday (Aug. 22). according to concessionaire RioGaleão. Following the end of the Olympics, 85 thousand people, among whom those who participated in the Games and tourists, should take the plane back home. Travelers are expected to amount to twice as many as on average days.

The morning went by calmly and free of lines for those who wished to travel, with no registers of flights being canceled or delayed. The afternoon, however, is when the most intense activity is expected to be take place, as this is when the majority of the 430 aircrafts are to take off, also according to data from RioGaleão.

Despite the heavy rains in Rio, traffic flowed unobstructed on the city's main thoroughfares, which were empty as a result of the municipal holiday decreed in a bid to prevent the departure of tourists from being hindered.

The prospect of chaos was such a source of fear that the concessionaire advised passengers to arrive six hours in advance. Many followed the recommendation to the letter, like Regina Célia Ramos de Queiroz and her 21 friends who left the neighboring state of Minas Gerais at 4 am to catch an international flight at 3 pm.

“We bought our tickets to Bariloche a year in advance. We didn't take it into consideration that it would be the most crowded day. We arrived over six hours in advance, but it was great, because we got to see a bunch of stunning athletes—such beautiful people,” she said, backed by her friends.

Delegations

Despite the remote check-in system set up in the Olympic Village to speed up luggage inspection, Ramesh Kumer Shrestha, from the Nepalese delegation, had to bring his own luggage to the airport. “In our case, we needed to bring our luggage and check in here, because we have a connection in Salvador,” he said. He visited Rio for the first time, and said, “Rio is really beautiful, we visited Christ the Redeemer, the Sugar Loaf, Copacabana. We really wish we could come back. People are very solicitous, and the police is really competent.”

Journalist Abelardo Alzueta from Spain also arrived early at the airport. He spent over a month in the city covering the Games. “It was all beautiful, intense, different, attractive, but I'm tired,” he said.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira